... when the researchers factored in middle age, adjusting for the subjects’ weight at that time, they found that the risk changed. The men who started college overweight or obese but were of normal weight in middle age no longer had a higher risk of dying of heart disease.

Body mass index in middle age was a strong predictor of dying of heart disease, the study showed. Being overweight in middle age increased the risk 25 percent, and being obese raised it 60 percent.